I'm in with A Pz.Kpfw. IV Ausf. E

Running a little late to this party but here is my start photo of this old Dragon kit

Got some work done on it yesterday hopefully more soon

Stug is ready. Well, what can I say, it was a most toughest model i've ever build.
And its my biggest disappointment. Was so upset with end result, because of mistakes with mud effects, so i've ordered the same kit))
This model will become a present for my friend or colleague.
I have not enough modelling skills for this kind of work...

Some more pix















More photos at phtobkcet.
Thanks for campaign))

Oleg,

Yer Stug IV looks awesome! Don't be so hard on yourself sir, your friend will be getting a sweet gift. I especially love the camo paint and weathering/wear.
I hope my Stug IV looks half as good, though I may not even get it done in time at my slow pace.

Oleg, I'm really not sure why you are so disappointed in your results. I would be extremely happy if I could turn out something that looked that good.

BTW, did you mask your camo or do it freehand? It looks great, so I'd like to learn more about your technique.

Thank you, Chris))
But my inner expectations is not satisfied with the end result, especially with mud on front and rear wings. It looks like some sh..t smudged with shovel(front wings) )) Plus I've applied too much dirt on wheels and inner space of the wheel arches.

Thank you, Mark.
Camo is made by a free hand. I've tried the masks(masking tape masks) but was unhappy with results. You get a very sharp edges of the camo. It looks awful))) Mby there is a better result with blue-tac, I dont know, didnt have one.

AB camo technique is simple, I'm using tamiya's colors and tamiya's thinner(x-20a), 0.2 airbrush, and 0.8 PSI on compressor.

Key features here:
1. Draw a dash line shapes of the camo. Its very simplifies future work.
2. Dilute paint by 1:2 (paint-thinner)
3. AB needle must be clean all time(no clogging)
4. Get a LOT of patience ))))

For the 3rd item, I remove the protective needle cap from AB, so I can constantly clean it with ear cleaning stick(dont know right english word )) ) moisten in tamiya's AB cleaner. Every 2-3 minutes.

No paint retarder needed. Tamyas paint lives happily in AB for 10-15 min. Just put a little amount of color there. 0.5 ml will be just fine. With this quantity you can spray 13 model.

Thats all. If you made a mistake(splashes or blob) you can overpaint it with the right color later.

I've tried AMMO-mig acrylics, but it clogs AB in a seconds, even highly diluted 1:5(paint-thinner). So I'm using tamiyas pseudo-acrylics.

Hi

I'm calling this done, I don't see a campaign gallery, or have I just missed it somewhere

Oleg, looks pretty darn good to me! Robert, nice clean Hummel , just needs a bit of detail paint on the inside.

Robert, the gallery is under the 2014 campaigns. Here's the link: https://gallery.kitmaker.net/showgallery.php/cat/29499

Oleg, thanks for that info. Sounds pretty similar to my technique, although my Iwata airbrush doesn't seem to like to work without the needle cap on so I have to remove it to clean the tip from time to time. I agree with you that Tamiya and Gunze-Sangyo acrylics seem to do better in an airbrush than Vallejo. Have not actually tried the mig acrylics.

Here's another update on my Pz. Beob. Wg.IV. After constructing the upper hull anti-grenade screens I turned to making the "Thoma" wire mesh schurzen side plates. Templates for making these are included in the kit but I chose not to use them as they looked inaccurate to me. I made my own templates based on pictures of vehicles I found on the web. Here's the inner sides:



and the outer:



I painted them with red primer first and then dunkelgelb in a patchy fashion over the primer:





Before attaching the skirts to the sponsons I painted the hull sides using Lifecolor paints - I wanted to try an acrylic set and I read a favorable review of these online.





Having painted the hull sides I then glued the upper hull anti-grenade screens in place.



The rear panel on the right side was placed askew to emphasize its "damaged" nature:



After attaching the upper hull screens I then attached the schurzen plates:





Note the damage to the middle skirt on the left:



And a final overhead shot of the assembly to date - next I'll be starting on the turret:

Colin, ty.
Mark just dont repeat my mistake, and dont buy a tons of mig paint before you try one))) I've bought a whole range of WWII colors, rus, ger, late, early 45 bottles total + thinner.
Now I'm sitting with 45 bottles of ammo-mig and painting with tamiya)))
If you can borrow one bottle with thinner from friend, go that way, so you'll have a clue wats what.

Sal, this is the first time that i have beat you to the finish.

Bob

I just started with some luck I will actually finish on time

Have a quick question about my entry. I plan to build the Pz IV L/70 (A). Will I have to add the zimmerit or would a non zimmerit one be accurate?

Thanks in advance

Cheers

Hi

I stuck in the camo of my Jagdpanzer, I will try with this for the disk scheme.

Post it, an old compass and blue tack / Faber to keep constant apperture of the compass.

It can works?, size etc?

Any comments ?

Regards
from the south
Alvaro

I think its easier to buy somthing like this:

http://www.am-works.com/store/lw35078-spraying-stencil-wwii-german-camouflage-hallow-disc-pi-182.html?type=jpg&pic=1&osCsid=k5b8k2lve163mgkki2rg6802v7

Reusable PE disk camo scheme. In scale already.

It looks god to me, Alvaro. I think it will turn out nice.

Oleg, thanks for your comment, I ask before this site and products. Looks excellent, but the disk camo set cost around 22 bucks, with the cost of send it to my country - Uruguay, I must pay around 40 bucks for a one "kit" mask. So I found it a bit expensive. That's the idea of home made masks.
Mark, thanks you.

Regards from the south
Alvaro

You can try this, as exmpl:
http://www.archertransfers.com/DiscPattern1.html
http://www.archertransfers.com/DiscPattern2.html
http://www.archertransfers.com/DiscPattern3.html
http://www.archertransfers.com/DiscPattern4.html

Just print'n cut - profit ))
Very long time for creating a mask for camo, but free))

Will you guys need an extension ?

EDIT: just check the end date... we still have plenty of time..
I will repost it in a month...

Again I dont Know progress is slow

Assembled the upper hull today still need to do the ball turret and then those non-magic tracks

A big MAYBE for me - I'm 90% sure that I'll finish the vehicle before 7/1/15 but I'm also planning on including four figures (one of which I've already started) as part of a larger diorama which will probably take most of the rest of the year to finish. But nothing says I can't just post the finished build as a separate entry after the campaign finishes, right?